What will the Engaged Classroom program be in the Canyons School District?
General Questions
Q. Will Canyons School District continue with the push for technology in the classroom? A. Yes! Canyons School District strongly supports the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning. Q. Is the Engaged Classroom program continuing? A. Yes. (See below for more details.)
Continued Support and Training
Q. Will we have continued communication, updates, and support? Will we have help applying what we have learned in the classroom? A. Canyons School District has seven Educational Technology Specialists to help teachers at the schools. Each Educational Technology Specialist will be working with four or five elementary schools. The goal is to have an Educational Technology Specialist in each elementary school on a weekly basis to help teachers effectively use technology in their classrooms.
In addition to our Ed Tech Specialists, we have four Media Technology Specialists and one Extended Technology Specialist. The Media Technology Specialists help the school media assistants maintain the school libraries. The Extended Technology Specialist helps special education teachers and students.
Each secondary school has one in-house technology specialist who will teach half time and help teachers with technology the other half. Q. How soon will you be able to help us? A. Specialists are available to help ASAP and started coming to your schools in August. Official trainings will start in October. Q. How many trainings are you going to have? A. This year we will hold six trainings for trainers and trainees to be held in October, November, January, February, March, and April.
Trainings for Elementary teachers will be Oct. 7, Nov. 11, Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Mar.10 and Apr. 14. Trainings will be held in the PDC buildings. Trainings for Secondary teachers will be Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Jan. 26, Feb. 9, Mar. 23 and Apr. 27. Trainings will be held in the PDC buildings. Q. Will we continue with the "Train the Trainer" model? A. No and yes. All three Engaged Classroom teachers in each building are asked to attend the monthly trainings. We would hope that you would be going back to your buildings though, and sharing with other teachers what you are learning.
The trainer will remain their school's point-of-contact for teachers, techs, and specialists. Q. What kind of training will we be getting? A. We will be planning trainings based on the responses we received in the Engaged Classroom survey. A schedule will be included with this FAQ sheet.
At each training we will offer three training options to provide training for teachers with varying levels of experience and varying areas of interest. The second hour we will all share ideas for practical application in the classroom and offer some tech problem-solving suggestions.
Equipment Maintenance
Q. Will Canyons School District continue to maintain the equipment? A. Yes. The district tech assigned to your school will help repair equipment.
There will be one tech assigned to each high school, one tech assigned to every two middle schools, and one tech assigned to every four elementary schools.
We are excited to have so much technical support in the Canyons School District! Q. Who will we go to if we need technical support for any of our equipment? A. Four people at your school will be able to help you report repair needs: your principal (or secretary), your Educational Technology Specialist, your district tech, and your Engaged Classroom trainer. Q. Will all of the techs be familiar with all of the hardware and software? A. There will not be separate techs for the Engaged Classroom equipment. Your school's assigned district tech will be able to help troubleshoot and repair equipment and your Educational Technology Specialist can assist you in using equipment and software. Q. Will Canyons School District be replacing the JSD asset labels on all the equipment? A. Yes... eventually.
Time Commitment / Teacher Requirements
Q. What will be the responsibilities of Engaged Classroom teachers? A. Attend a monthly training.
Apply what has been learned in the classroom.
Share ideas with other teachers.
Support teachers in your building in their efforts to use technology tools.
Be in communication with the Educational Technology Specialist that is assigned to your school. Q. How much of a time commitment will the program ask? A. The Engaged Classroom trainers and trainees will attend trainings once a month. Beyond these trainings, there is no set time commitment. We ask that you spend time applying what you have learned, sharing ideas, and supporting other teachers in your building. Q. Will we have assignments like last year? A. No. Teachers are assigned to attend the trainings, but will not be assigned "homework". Q. What if I am an elementary teacher and can't attend the elementary training, can I attend the secondary training instead? A. Yes, and it works the other way as well.
Pay / Compensation
Q. Will trainers and trainees receive monetary compensation for their time? A. All Engaged Classroom teachers will be paid their inservice rate for attending the monthly trainings. Q. If we continue with the program, will we receive a stipend? A. There will not be a stipend this year.
Teachers will be paid for attending the monthly trainings.
Principals will decide if money from their school budget will go toward the Engaged Classroom teachers. Q. Can trainers and trainees receive relicensure points for attending the monthly training sessions? A. Yes.
Changing Engaged Classroom Teachers
Q. Are there going to be new trainees/trainers in each school? A. No. The teachers that started the program last year are expected to continue. Q. If I transfer, do I need to find the person to take my place or is that chosen by someone else? A. If an Engaged Classroom teacher has moved from the school, the principal should select another teacher to take their place. Your input would most likely be appreciated by the principal. Q. Do we have to have a science teacher as one of the three engaged classroom teachers, or can they all be social studies? A. Principals should choose whomever will benefit most from the training and apply what they learn.
Principals are encouraged to choose social studies or science teachers, but it is left to their discretion.
Equipment Use
Q. Will I get to keep all of the equipment I currently have? A. Yes. Engaged Classroom teachers will continue to use their equipment. Q. At what point do I have to share the laptops and other equipment with the other teachers in my building? A. Engaged Classroom teachers have the priority for using the equipment. If the Engaged Classroom teachers and principal feel they would like to help other teachers in the school use the equipment, they may choose to do so. Q. If I don't participate in this program next year, will I be permitted to use the tools and equipment that I have been able to use this year? A. Non-participants will not have priority for using the equipment. Q. If I leave the district, or transfer schools does the equipment go with me? A. Teachers who leave the Canyons School District will not be permitted to take the tools and equipment. It is to stay within the district.
Teachers who transfer to another school within the district will need to leave the tools and equipment at the school for which it was originally purchased.
Teachers who are not transferring are expected to continue with the program this year.
Funding
Q. Is Canyons School District receiving grant money to keep the Engaged Classroom program going? A. No. Q. Will Canyons School District try to receive more grants for technology? A. The Educational and Media Technology Specialists will be applying for grants for technology. Q. How can we help get more funding to bring in more equipment? A. Talk to your principal to offer input on the equipment you would like to have in your school.
Applying for grants is a great way to get money for more equipment. Q. Can teachers who want to participate in the Engaged Classroom program apply for grants to join? A. Of course! Q. How can teachers apply for grants? A. The Educational and Media Technology Specialists will be happy to help those who would like to apply for grants. Your principal can also help direct you to grant possibilities. Here are some grant websites that might help: http://www.100percentforkids.org/ http://www.ucet.org/ UCET often mentions grant opportunities in their newsletter. http://technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/funding-school-technology.html A list of educational technology grants http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/edgrants.html US Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/Technology/tec-guid.html Federal funding resource guide
Q. Will Canyons School District extend the training to more teachers beyond three per school? A. Not this year. Q. Will all classrooms have projectors and audio systems? A. This is up to each school's principal and faculty and what you decide is a priority for your school. Q. My classroom size will be larger next year. Are there plans to increase the size of the mobile lab? A. This is up to each school's principal and faculty and what you decide is a priority for your school. Q. How can we get information on how to purchase more of the equipment we received? A. Talk to your principal and your Educational Technology specialist.
Administrator / Software Update Privileges
Q. Will we be able to get admin password so we can update our own lab and not have to wait until there are problems? A. We will not be giving teachers admin passwords because we want to be able to preserve the standardization of the labs, however we will be enabling the teacher accounts on the #1 computer in each mobile lab to have admin privileges in case you need something done right away. Our district technology support personnel will run all software updates for the mobile labs. This will be done about every six weeks to two months. Tech support is able to run updates on every mobile lab computer at once. This saves teachers from having to take the time to update each individual computer. Not every update that comes up automatically should be installed on the computers. We want our deployment team to check the updates first so we know which ones to run and which ones to skip.
What will the Engaged Classroom program be in the Canyons School District?
General Questions
Q. Will Canyons School District continue with the push for technology in the classroom?A. Yes! Canyons School District strongly supports the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning.
Q. Is the Engaged Classroom program continuing?
A. Yes. (See below for more details.)
Continued Support and Training
Q. Will we have continued communication, updates, and support? Will we have help applying what we have learned in the classroom?A. Canyons School District has seven Educational Technology Specialists to help teachers at the schools. Each Educational Technology Specialist will be working with four or five elementary schools. The goal is to have an Educational Technology Specialist in each elementary school on a weekly basis to help teachers effectively use technology in their classrooms.
In addition to our Ed Tech Specialists, we have four Media Technology Specialists and one Extended Technology Specialist. The Media Technology Specialists help the school media assistants maintain the school libraries. The Extended Technology Specialist helps special education teachers and students.
Each secondary school has one in-house technology specialist who will teach half time and help teachers with technology the other half. Q. How soon will you be able to help us?
A. Specialists are available to help ASAP and started coming to your schools in August. Official trainings will start in October.
Q. How many trainings are you going to have?
A. This year we will hold six trainings for trainers and trainees to be held in October, November, January, February, March, and April.
Trainings for Elementary teachers will be Oct. 7, Nov. 11, Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Mar.10 and Apr. 14. Trainings will be held in the PDC buildings. Trainings for Secondary teachers will be Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Jan. 26, Feb. 9, Mar. 23 and Apr. 27. Trainings will be held in the PDC buildings.
Q. Will we continue with the "Train the Trainer" model?
A. No and yes. All three Engaged Classroom teachers in each building are asked to attend the monthly trainings. We would hope that you would be going back to your buildings though, and sharing with other teachers what you are learning.
The trainer will remain their school's point-of-contact for teachers, techs, and specialists.
Q. What kind of training will we be getting?
A. We will be planning trainings based on the responses we received in the Engaged Classroom survey. A schedule will be included with this FAQ sheet.
At each training we will offer three training options to provide training for teachers with varying levels of experience and varying areas of interest. The second hour we will all share ideas for practical application in the classroom and offer some tech problem-solving suggestions.
Equipment Maintenance
Q. Will Canyons School District continue to maintain the equipment?A. Yes. The district tech assigned to your school will help repair equipment.
There will be one tech assigned to each high school, one tech assigned to every two middle schools, and one tech assigned to every four elementary schools.
We are excited to have so much technical support in the Canyons School District!
Q. Who will we go to if we need technical support for any of our equipment?
A. Four people at your school will be able to help you report repair needs: your principal (or secretary), your Educational Technology Specialist, your district tech, and your Engaged Classroom trainer. Q. Will all of the techs be familiar with all of the hardware and software?
A. There will not be separate techs for the Engaged Classroom equipment. Your school's assigned district tech will be able to help troubleshoot and repair equipment and your Educational Technology Specialist can assist you in using equipment and software. Q. Will Canyons School District be replacing the JSD asset labels on all the equipment?
A. Yes... eventually.
Time Commitment / Teacher Requirements
Q. What will be the responsibilities of Engaged Classroom teachers?A. Attend a monthly training.
Apply what has been learned in the classroom.
Share ideas with other teachers.
Support teachers in your building in their efforts to use technology tools.
Be in communication with the Educational Technology Specialist that is assigned to your school. Q. How much of a time commitment will the program ask?
A. The Engaged Classroom trainers and trainees will attend trainings once a month. Beyond these trainings, there is no set time commitment. We ask that you spend time applying what you have learned, sharing ideas, and supporting other teachers in your building. Q. Will we have assignments like last year?
A. No. Teachers are assigned to attend the trainings, but will not be assigned "homework".
Q. What if I am an elementary teacher and can't attend the elementary training, can I attend the secondary training instead?
A. Yes, and it works the other way as well.
Pay / Compensation
Q. Will trainers and trainees receive monetary compensation for their time?A. All Engaged Classroom teachers will be paid their inservice rate for attending the monthly trainings. Q. If we continue with the program, will we receive a stipend?
A. There will not be a stipend this year.
Teachers will be paid for attending the monthly trainings.
Principals will decide if money from their school budget will go toward the Engaged Classroom teachers.
Q. Can trainers and trainees receive relicensure points for attending the monthly training sessions?
A. Yes.
Changing Engaged Classroom Teachers
Q. Are there going to be new trainees/trainers in each school?A. No. The teachers that started the program last year are expected to continue. Q. If I transfer, do I need to find the person to take my place or is that chosen by someone else?
A. If an Engaged Classroom teacher has moved from the school, the principal should select another teacher to take their place. Your input would most likely be appreciated by the principal.
Q. Do we have to have a science teacher as one of the three engaged classroom teachers, or can they all be social studies?
A. Principals should choose whomever will benefit most from the training and apply what they learn.
Principals are encouraged to choose social studies or science teachers, but it is left to their discretion.
Equipment Use
Q. Will I get to keep all of the equipment I currently have?A. Yes. Engaged Classroom teachers will continue to use their equipment.
Q. At what point do I have to share the laptops and other equipment with the other teachers in my building?
A. Engaged Classroom teachers have the priority for using the equipment. If the Engaged Classroom teachers and principal feel they would like to help other teachers in the school use the equipment, they may choose to do so.
Q. If I don't participate in this program next year, will I be permitted to use the tools and equipment that I have been able to use this year?
A. Non-participants will not have priority for using the equipment. Q. If I leave the district, or transfer schools does the equipment go with me? A. Teachers who leave the Canyons School District will not be permitted to take the tools and equipment. It is to stay within the district.
Teachers who transfer to another school within the district will need to leave the tools and equipment at the school for which it was originally purchased.
Teachers who are not transferring are expected to continue with the program this year.
Funding
Q. Is Canyons School District receiving grant money to keep the Engaged Classroom program going?A. No.
Q. Will Canyons School District try to receive more grants for technology?
A. The Educational and Media Technology Specialists will be applying for grants for technology.
Q. How can we help get more funding to bring in more equipment?
A. Talk to your principal to offer input on the equipment you would like to have in your school.
Applying for grants is a great way to get money for more equipment.
Q. Can teachers who want to participate in the Engaged Classroom program apply for grants to join?
A. Of course!
Q. How can teachers apply for grants?
A. The Educational and Media Technology Specialists will be happy to help those who would like to apply for grants. Your principal can also help direct you to grant possibilities.
Here are some grant websites that might help:
http://www.100percentforkids.org/
http://www.ucet.org/ UCET often mentions grant opportunities in their newsletter.
http://technologygrantnews.com/grant-index-by-type/funding-school-technology.html A list of educational technology grants
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/edgrants.html US Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/Technology/tec-guid.html Federal funding resource guide
Q. Will Canyons School District extend the training to more teachers beyond three per school?
A. Not this year.
Q. Will all classrooms have projectors and audio systems?
A. This is up to each school's principal and faculty and what you decide is a priority for your school.
Q. My classroom size will be larger next year. Are there plans to increase the size of the mobile lab?
A. This is up to each school's principal and faculty and what you decide is a priority for your school. Q. How can we get information on how to purchase more of the equipment we received?
A. Talk to your principal and your Educational Technology specialist.
Administrator / Software Update Privileges
Q. Will we be able to get admin password so we can update our own lab and not have to wait until there are problems?A. We will not be giving teachers admin passwords because we want to be able to preserve the standardization of the labs, however we will be enabling the teacher accounts on the #1 computer in each mobile lab to have admin privileges in case you need something done right away. Our district technology support personnel will run all software updates for the mobile labs. This will be done about every six weeks to two months. Tech support is able to run updates on every mobile lab computer at once. This saves teachers from having to take the time to update each individual computer. Not every update that comes up automatically should be installed on the computers. We want our deployment team to check the updates first so we know which ones to run and which ones to skip.